MAR ZARAH TAUDENY. 
499 
recollected that the people of Tombuctoo spoke 
of Mutnougo, and of a considerable place to the 
eastward to which they traded, called Tuarick, 
probably the Tagama Tuarick of Horneman. 
He had likewise heard Bondou and Mandingo 
often mentioned. 
After a residence of six months at Tombuctoo, 
a party of ten Moors came to the town, and in 
consideration of a large quantity of tobacco, ob- 
tained the ransom of their countrymen, and of 
Adams along with them. About three weeks 
after, the whole party set out to cross the desert. 
They proceeded for ten days, at the rate of fifteen 
to eighteen miles a day, along the banks of the 
Mar Zarah, in the direction of east, inclining a 
little to the north. The country appears to have 
been thinly inhabited, though they occasionally 
saw a negro hut. Before losing sight of the river 
they loaded their camels with water, and then 
took a northerly direction. The territory became 
then desolate, and they saw only parties of negro 
traders bringing salt from Taudeny. The soil 
produced shrubs, a low kind of grass like moss, 
and occasionally a tree. In thirteen days they 
arrived at Taudeny. A supply of excellent water, 
and the fertility which it produces, render this a 
valuable place of refreshment for travellers across 
the desert. It contains also numerous beds of 
salt, an article in universal demand over Soudan. 
